Lego Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary
(by Simon Beecroft and Jeremy Beckett, DK $21.95 Score:)

For all Lego Star Wars fans here is a fantasy book. Between the covers Darth Vader, Yoda, Luke Skywalker, and others come to life. The big book is chock full with many tantalizing but little-known factoids. There are hundreds of colorful close-up photos of all the accessories—characters, vehicles, weapons, and even the Death Star! It's an exciting book for the Star Wars crowd who will love reading about the history, manufacture, and construction of their favorite mini-figures of the Star Wars galaxy.

Age: Later School Years, Tweens, Teens. Award Year: 2009. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

The Nutcracker and the Mouse King
(retold and illustrated by Gail De Marcken, Scholastic $18.95 Score:)

Any one of the thousands of children, who will see the ballet, The Nutcracker, this holiday season, will be the richer for knowing the story before they go to the theater. Sure, there are notes in the program, but they are a poor substitute for the full story. This glorious oversized picture book opens to eye candy endpapers that set the stage for E.T.A. Hoffmann's magical fantasy that has been beautifully adapted by Gail de Marken. This is a long telling for older listeners. It will take more than one sitting and the illustrations will be enjoyed both before and after seeing the ballet in the theater, on TV, or any of the many DVD versions.  

Age: Early School Years, Later School Years. Award Year: 2009. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

Sojourner Truth's Step-Stomp Stride
(by Andrea Davis Pinkney/ illus. Brian Pinkney, Disney Jump At the Sun $16.99 Score:)

The story of Sojourner Truth is told here in a lively storyteller voice that addresses young listeners with warmth and illustrations that match the spirited text. With her "hands like hams" and size 12 shoes that could stomp on beetles...this Sojourner Truth comes across as larger than life!  She is like a folktale hero--but one who was no work of fiction. The Pinkneys have captured the story of this giant of a woman in words and images that bring her to life for a new generation of children who will come to know more about this legend who fought the chains of slavery and the rights of women.

Age: Early School Years, Later School Years. Award Year: 2009. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

P.J. Lynch Classic Christmas Collection
(Candlewick $40 Score:)

Share this set of three gloriously illustrated stories with the whole family during the holidays. This slipcase set is a perfect gift for all the generations to enjoy. The set includes Charles Dickens  "A Christmas Carol", O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi"  and the tender tale of  "The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey" about a grumpy old man who finds friendship and joy thanks to a lonely boy and his mother. This collection is likey to become a memorable annual tradition. 

Age: Early School Years, Later School Years. Award Year: 2009. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

Journal of Inventions: Leonardo da Vinci
(by Jaspre Bark/illus. by David Lawrence , Silver Dolphin Books $24.95 Score:)

Adapted from the journals of Leonardo, readers get a sense of the artist’s thinking and his inventive original ideas for machines, buildings and even a robot of sorts, that he did not get to build but dreamed of as possibilities. Within the covers of this amazing book, Leonardo’s dreams take form in sturdy three-dimensional pop-ups that are engineered of paper. His Flying Ship, Mechanical Man, and all the others fairly float above the pages. A coffee table book that will inspire young science minded readers as well as adults

Age: Later School Years, Tweens. Award Year: 2009. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg
(by Rodman Philbrick, Scholastic $16.99 Score:)

17 year-old Harold P. Figg is too young to serve in the Union army, but that doesn't matter to his greedy uncle, who lies about the boy's age. That was how he could collect a handsome sum of money from a family that could afford to pay for someone else to fight in place of a drafted son. Poor Homer P. Figg has always depended on his big brother Harold. How will he survive without him? So it is Homer who undertakes the mission of running away to rescue his dear brother. And what a journey this is! Every chapter crackles with lively characters and adventures that keep the pages turning and the reader both amused and amazed. Colorful passages give the reader a picture of the 1860's with its slavery, abolitionists, sooty trains and bloody warfront amputations and terrible death toll.  But the research does not slow the pace of the story. Homer, a fabulous storyteller, hardly needs to embellish the wild adventures he gets into with thieves, spies, and dreamers. When he leaves Maine he has no way of knowing if or how he will find Harold; nor could he expect to ride a ferry, a train, a hot air balloon and end up on the front lines of the Battle of Gettysburg. Homer P. Figg quickly takes the reader into his world, cheering for a happy ending while wishing we were not finished with this lovable rascal! It's historic fiction at its best! 9 & up. 

Age: Later School Years, Tweens. Award Year: 2009. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

Scat
(by Carl Hiaasen, Knopf $16.99 Score:)

When Mrs. Starch, a less than beloved biology teacher disappears after a field trip the rumors begin to fly. Was it a hot headed kid, Duane Scrod Jr., AKA as Smoke, who was getting even by setting a fire in the swamp where nasty Mrs. Starch was last seen? There are several suspenseful plot lines and a colorful cast of eco-enemies and eco-vigilantes who keep the pages turning in this well paced mystery involving an endangered panther cub separated from its mother, a dumb businessman who hopes to outsmart the state, an eco-avenger who is going to stop him, a crusty old grandmother who does not give up on her family, an injured Iraqi War vet, and three high school students who are brave enough to stand up for what is right. Best of all the characters are not just good and bad guys, they are more complex than that as they are revealed in a story that never talks down, but takes one surprising turn after another. Scat hooks the reader and holds fast from the first scene to last. Another solid read from the author of the award winning book, Hoot. 10 & up.

Age: Later School Years, Tweens. Award Year: 2009. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

Life in the Boreal Forest
(by Brenda Z. Guiberson/ illus. by Gennady Spirin, Henry Holt $16.99 Score:) Each of the stunning paintings in this catalog of the Boreal Forest, the great northern forest, is breathtakingly beautiful. They are in the style of Audubon and other great naturalist painters. They breathe life into the creatures, give texture to their fur and feathers and capture a sense of place with snowy field, berry hedges, woody bark and leafy foliage. The text explains about the creatures that inhabit each of the scenes and does so in lyrical prose. Though each of the entries is long for the picture book crowd, this is a book to grow into. Share just parts of the text for the younger listener. Older children will return on their own if this is a subject that interests them...let's hope.

Age: Early School Years, Later School Years. Award Year: 2009. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

Testing the Ice, A True Story About Jackie Robinson
(By Sharon Robinson/ illus. by Kadir Nelson, Scholastic $16.99 Score:)

Written by Jackie Robinson's daughter, this is a true story of the famous baseball player, who broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball and won almost every award known, but despite his athletic prowess, surprisingly, he did not know how to swim. When his kids wanted to go skating on the lake behind their house, he had the courage to be the one to test the ice. Glorious illustrations add much to this lovely metaphor for the courage the beloved Jackie Robinson showed in his early years as the first African American to play in the Major League.  

Age: Early School Years, Later School Years. Award Year: 2009. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

Roman Diary
(by Richard Platt/ illus. by David Parkins, Candlewick $18.992 Score:)

When Iliona leaves with her family from Greece to Rome she starts a diary. Little did she know that before she even gets there their ship will be taken by pirates and she will become a slave and this then becomes a vehicle for showing life in Rome. Of course, Iliona has the good fortune ( if one can say that about being a slave) to be bought by a Roman senator. Because she is educated her life as a slave is less bitter than it might otherwise have been. Platt manages to weave a good enough story into his travelogue of ancient Rome, giving Iliona and her brother a happier ending than most slaves could expect. Parkins art carries the tour forward with details that capture time and place. 8 & up

 

Age: Early School Years, Later School Years. Award Year: 2009.